Ohio’s death row to relocate from Chillicothe Correctional Institution to Ross Correctional Institution

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction announced Friday that its primary death row housing unit will relocate to the Ross Correctional Institution (RCI) in Chillicothe, one of Ohio’s high-security prisons.

Death row has been located at Chillicothe Correctional Institution (CCI), a medium-security institution, since 2011. The move to RCI will place death row inmates in a higher-security setting and allow the current death row unit at CCI to be modified to house 300 lower-security inmates.

The move of death row to RCI, which is located across the street from CCI, is anticipated to take place in the spring. The new death row housing area will continue to be managed as a high-security specialized housing unit with meals, recreation and other activities conducted separately from the general population. 

There will be no layoffs due to this move. 

A small number of inmates on death row will continue to be housed at the Ohio State Penitentiary (maximum security), Warren Correctional Institution, and the Franklin Medical Center. The death row unit for female inmates will remain at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. 

History of death row locations:


• Before 1972, death row was located at the Ohio Penitentiary.


• In 1972, the United States Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional. 


• Ohio’s current capital punishment statute took effect on October 19, 1981. Death row was located at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility at this time. 


• 1995: Death row relocated from the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility to the Mansfield Correctional Institution. 


• 2005: Death row relocated to the Ohio State Penitentiary. 


• 2011: Death row relocated to CCI.